Samantha Tano
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samanthatano.bsky.social
Samantha Tano
@samanthatano.bsky.social
510 followers 270 following 300 posts
🏳️‍⚧️ Transsexual
🏳️‍🌈 Lesbian
♾️ auDHD
✒️ Sci-fi author

IN THE VALLEY, A SHADOW available now!!
HER BLOOD RUNS COLD coming 2025!!

(she/her)

www.samtano.com
https://linktr.ee/samtanoauthor
Posts Replies Media Videos
samanthatano.bsky.social
Guess what! The ebook of In the Valley, A Shadow, is discounted today to $0.99 as part of a sapphic stuff your kindle event hosted by Year of Queer Lit! Also, there are over 150 other books discounted or even free from hundreds of sapphic authors!! #booksky

yearofqueerlit.com/2025/02/23/s...
Image of an e-reader showing a book cover. The cover is a purple sky and landscape with a woman staring up at two moons, one eclipsing the other. The book is titled "In the Valley, A Shadow" by Samantha Tano. There is a banner across the top left corner that reads $0.99!
February 26, 2025 at 1:16 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Okay sorry, I had to break it up awkwardly to get the alt-text character limit to fit!
As a transgender woman, I am tired. Nationwide, cisgender, white, male politicians attempt to erase us from legal existence. There are state-level bills preventing us from using bathrooms, competing in sports, living on campus, and most recently, an executive order from the President making it impossible for us to obtain legal documents that include our true identities. And instead of seeing our thoughts on these issues reflected in the news, the national media seems to think we need more opinions from cisgender people. I am tired of my community, my family, being spoken for but not listened to. The time to platform trans voices is now. The attack on transgender people in the United States has reached a level that some consider to be genocidal. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security issued a statement on Election Day, warning that they “are particularly alarmed by ongoing hate speech from the Republican candidate for President, Donald Trump, who has consistently demonized immigrants and trans people in the USA, blaming them for the myriad struggles faced by Americans that are very real but that have absolutely nothing to do with immigrants and trans people.” In January, they issued a red flag alert for genocide noting that “Elon Musk, an unelected figure close to the president, [felt] free to flash the Nazi salute on inauguration day.” The Nazis’ first book-burning campaign started on May 6, 1933, at the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft. Magnus Hirschfield’s Institute for Sexual Science was the world’s leading library of knowledge and research into LGBTQIA — especially transgender — people from 1919, until that day in 1933. The right wing’s claims that the “transgender debate” is a recent phenomenon gain traction only because one of the largest repositories of our history was deliberately erased. And now, the Trump administration is again trying to remove all mention of transgender (as well as queer, and gender-expansive) people from government websites and records, and deny us legal recognition. In 2024, at least 32 transgender and gender-expansive people were murdered in the United States according to the Human Rights Campaign. The Trevor Project’s 2024 National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People reported that 14 percent of trans men, 18 percent of trans women, and 13 percent of non-binary people attempted suicide last year. I say “at least” because when a minority group is erased from legal recognition, crimes against that community, including cases of suicide, cannot be accurately recorded. Propaganda has manufactured consent for our eradication, not only in the United States, but in other countries as well. Every legitimate media outlet has a moral responsibility to stop presenting the rights and humanity of transgender people as up for debate. In order to combat the overwhelming campaign against transgender people, the national media must allow us to speak for ourselves. The media must hire more trans journalists, writers, and artists, and. They must, at the bare minimum, stop platforming transphobic ideology and seek out trans voices beyond celebrities to reflect our true material needs. We are disproportionately unhoused, out of work, and living in poverty, especially Black trans women, our most vulnerable community members. Our voices must be heard, before our silence becomes deafening. Samantha Tano is a novelist and former journalist who lives in Rhode Island.
February 25, 2025 at 8:07 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Queen/Throne.
A picture of Samantha, a white trans girl, sitting in a plush chair. Her legs are spread apart, and she's wearing black jeans, a grey t shirt, and a backwards black snapback. Her curly brown hair is down to her shoulders. She's looking directly at you, deadly serious, regal. A picture of Samantha, a white trans girl, sitting in a plush chair. Her legs are spread apart, and she's wearing black jeans, a grey t shirt, and a backwards black snapback. Her curly brown hair is down to her shoulders. She's sitting forward with her arms resting on her knees, looking down at you, deadly serious, regal.
February 22, 2025 at 5:24 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
I am sorry that many people called Mark Patinkin names. Now, imagine if he had real problems, such as people labeling his existence a dangerous ideology, or if his human rights were at risk, or his life.
Screenshot of the Providence Journal website. A column headline: "Mark Patinkin was criticized for his column on boys in girls sports. Here's what he learned." Text that reads: Many said it was a groundless comparison, since hormonal therapy takes away the physical advantages of males who transition. Apples and oranges, they said. But their tone. God help you if you take a conservative stand on a culturally divisive issue like transgenderism. I was labeled a moron, a disgrace and a fascist – guilty even of “journalistic malpractice.” Yikes. Text that reads: Tano’s letter was thought-provoking, but much of the other feedback focused on name-calling – I was “ignorant” and a “transphobe” – which got me thinking about a related issue. It helped me see one reason Trump won.
February 22, 2025 at 11:49 AM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Executive functioning.
A selfie of Samantha, a white trans woman. She's wearing a grey T-shirt, a backwards black baseball cap, rainbow framed glasses, dark lipstick, and a vegan leather choker with a silver heart. Her hair is down to one side. A selfie of Samantha, a white trans woman. She's wearing a grey T-shirt, a backwards black baseball cap, rainbow framed glasses, dark lipstick, and a vegan leather choker with a silver heart. Her hair is down to one side. She's holding two fingers up to her mouth with her tongue sticking out. A selfie of Samantha, a white trans woman. She's wearing a grey T-shirt, a backwards black baseball cap, rainbow framed glasses, dark lipstick, and a vegan leather choker with a silver heart, black jeans and black shoes. Her hair is down to one side. She's holding her phone, and there's a canvas bag over her shoulder. She's sitting in a salon chair, taking the photo through the mirror.
February 20, 2025 at 8:08 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
The executive function is functioning so maybe we cook?
A set of file folders on a computer. The top folder is labeled Xypha Fiction. Below and nested within that folder are three other folders labeled: 01 In the Valley, A Shadow 02 Her Blood Runs Cold 03 Untitled
February 20, 2025 at 1:46 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Thanks for the self promo opportunity!! My LGBTQIA+ sci-fi western came out last year. Sequel is coming this year!

(personal website store, U.S. only) www.samtano.com/store/p/in-t...

(Amazon/KU) a.co/d/azhQASx
Image of a book cover. The sky is a deep purple, with faint stars visible as the sun has set just beyond the hills on the horizon. Among tall grass, a woman stands back to the viewer, holding a futuristic weapon by her side. Her hair is pulled up in a ponytail, there are goggles pushed up on her head. She's looking up at two moons, one eclipsing the other. Title: In the Valley, A Shadow Author: Samantha Tano Text that reads: The frontier planet Celestine, millennia from now. It was supposed to be the furthest Alix could get from the Xypha Corporation, that all-consuming entity at the heart of humanity’s interstellar expansion. After the Xypha forward station arrives in orbit, Alix, a transgender pilot, finds herself out of work and her ship grounded. She’ll do anything to pay off her mounting debts so she can fly again—even if it means killing for the meanest crime boss in the Isidis Valley. As Xypha’s influence grows, Alix is trapped in a web of betrayal and politics that threatens more than just her life. Armed with a pair of Plasveld-7s, a sharp wit, and with the love of her life by her side, Alix embarks on a deadly path across the valley. Can she flee Xypha’s creeping shadow, or is it time to stop running and stand her ground?
February 19, 2025 at 11:28 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Good morning.

I want to share the email I wrote yesterday because I'm proud of it & how I advocated for myself & my community.

Basically, the columnist who I wrote my letter to the editor about, emailed me & wanted to interview me for a "follow up" column.

I declined. Here's why:
Text that reads: I gave this some thought and I will have to decline for several reasons. Since you reached out, I am going to make an assumption that you wish to learn from your mistake in good faith. And yes, your column was indeed a considerable mistake, given that it was in no way an informed opinion, and invites danger upon me and my community. Given your transphobic point of view about trans women competing in women's sports, I cannot engage in a conversation with you safely. Every trans person must calculate the safety of their environment at any given time, and this includes the people with whom we interact. Due to the ongoing genocide against us, and the way I have been personally treated by transphobic people and family members, I refuse to put myself in a room with anyone who holds transphobic points of view, especially when I would be the sole recipient of those viewpoints. Of course, you may not call me a slur, such as some members of congress are doing, on the floor, to the first transgender member of congress. But I cannot act on faith alone when a person has already demonstrated that they view myself and my community as an Other. Text that reads: I believe your request for an interview (as opposed to a cup of coffee off the record, for instance) indicates that you may have missed the point of my letter entirely. Sure, you probably think you're giving me a platform, but that's already been done by my letter. By wanting to interview me for your column, you are offering to tell my story. That is the common theme for trans people: very few of us have the opportunities to tell our own stories on our own terms. I cannot trust you to properly tell my story, honestly, factually, given the viewpoints you have expressed. If the Journal wants to give me column inches, as a former award-winning journalist in Tennessee (under my deadname of course), a seasoned developmental editor for the better part of a decade, and a novelist, I would certainly welcome the chance to tell my story in my own words, and on my own terms. (You are welcome to connect with me on LinkedIn or other socials.) But I will not be a prop for saving face. What you have asked me to do is to bear the emotional labor for your education on this issue. It is not my responsibility to educate you, or change your mind, or convince you that I and my community are human beings who should not be discriminated against. In this political moment, the vast majority of my emotional energy is consumed by trying to stay safe, stable, and alive. I do not have the energy to spare to teach you. Text that reads: If one genuinely wished to learn and accept transgender people as just people who deserve the full rights and privileges granted to every citizen of the United States, you would educate yourself. Seek out trans voices. Read books by trans people; read books about our history, and the struggle that we have been through. Use your considerable experience and skill as a journalist to properly vet the sources of information you consume about us. Furthermore, reconciliation requires action. Activate your privilege in your personal and daily life to fight against transphobia, both in your home, workplace, and anywhere else you find community. As a white, cisgender, heterosexual male, no one has greater privilege than you. I will judge someone's character on their actions, and by the company they keep, and only after I see they have demonstrated a firm commitment to trans rights, will I consider engaging with them personally. Text that reads: To continue the assumption that you wish to learn in good faith, beyond the labor of writing this email, I will recommend to you a foundational scholarly work by a leading transgender historian, Susan Stryker: Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution (2nd ed). While this book still has gaps and shortcomings, it is a strong place to begin learning about us, the fact that we have existed for the entirety of human history, and how dangerous the current time is for transgender people. You can get her book anywhere, but I recommend Heartleaf Books, the indie bookstore on Atwells that is owned by queer and trans people. They can order it for you if it is not on their shelves currently. I hope you understand my reasoning, and will take this message, and opportunity, to heart. With respect, Samantha Tano (she/her)
February 19, 2025 at 1:20 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Sam Wilson is Captain America.

Fit for the movie today ⭐
A selfie of Samantha, a white trans woman with shoulder length brown hair with blond highlights. She is wearing rainbow framed glasses, red lipstick and a blue v neck sweater, and a blue and red knitted cap. A selfie of Samantha, a white trans woman with shoulder length brown hair with blond highlights. She is wearing rainbow framed glasses, red lipstick and a blue v neck sweater, and a blue and red knitted cap. Her eyes are closed, showing off blue, white, and red eye shadow with sharp black eyeliner wings.
February 18, 2025 at 3:52 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
"Why have I been having an emotional meltdown for two days straight?"

My vial of estradiol:
A picture of Kendrick Lamar, a Black rapper, from his Super Bowl halftime performance. He's wearing a backwards baseball cap, black T-shirt, blue leather jacket, and blue jeans. He's holding the microphone while walking, but looking into the camera with a wide grin.
February 18, 2025 at 3:14 AM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Hi 😘
A selfie of Samantha, a white trans woman with brown hair with blond highlights in the curls piled on top. She is wearing rainbow framed glasses, pink lipstick and a heather grey t-shirt under a blue cardigan, and a black vegan leather choker with a silver heart. She is staring into the camera with dramatic eyeliner.
February 16, 2025 at 7:48 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Added again with alt text.
I am the bogeyman about whom Mr. Patinkin wrote a column on February 8, 2025. Actually, I am a wife. I am a mother. I have a dog. I live in a quiet neighborhood in Cranston. I write sci-fi novels. I am a transgender woman. Like every transgender person in this country, I am just…a person. Apparently, Mr. Patinkin has never spoken to a transgender person, as evidenced by his absurd and dangerous column about us being banned from sports. Trust me, Mr. Patinkin, none of us care about whether we can beat you or your daughter at a game of basketball. None of us transition to beat anyone at a game of basketball. None of us choose to face down the overwhelming barrage of hatred, ridicule, or side-eye from cisgender people, much less the full weight and power of the federal government of the United States of America, to win at a game of basketball. Mr. Patinkin would know this if he ever spoke to a transgender person with the intention of listening. Contrary to what Mr. Patinkin argued in his essay, we’re actually the underdogs here. Our opponents are the President of the United States, the U.S. Department of State, the United States Congress, the New York Times, and now the Providence Journal. Columns like Mr. Patinkin’s make it harder for us to live safe, healthy lives like everyone else. Gender affirming care for trans people doesn’t win championships—it saves lives.
February 16, 2025 at 3:41 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
They let a transsexual clap back. Tired of seeing people talk ABOUT us, instead of WITH us. In today's Providence Journal (paywall of course 🥴).

www.providencejournal.com/story/opinio...
February 16, 2025 at 1:33 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
"I’m tired of betraying people.”

“That’s because you’ve betrayed the wrong people. So make it right.”

Part IV of Co-Orbital is available now on my Patreon! I forgot to post here yesterday lmao

🔗 www.patreon.com/posts/co-orb...
February 9, 2025 at 12:34 AM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Gender ideology.
February 6, 2025 at 6:54 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
We passed $5 woohoo!!! Thanks to whoever is reading my book this month 🫶
January 29, 2025 at 1:26 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Hey fam, many new followers. Just a reminder that my novel, In the Valley, A Shadow, is a sci-fi western of female rage and trans femme revenge. You can buy it/order it from your fav indie store, or from me directly! Check the links in my bio 🥰 #Booksky
January 28, 2025 at 7:18 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Salon icon
January 28, 2025 at 6:59 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
These crosses all over my body remind me of who I used to be.
January 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
"The dead don't work."

Read Part III of my ongoing sci-fi western tale, Co-Orbital, on Patreon!

www.patreon.com/posts/120683...

#Booksky #Writersky #Scifi #LGBTQIASky
January 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Don't forget, dolls
January 23, 2025 at 3:59 AM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Meow 😽
January 23, 2025 at 12:49 AM
samanthatano.bsky.social
How do u do
January 22, 2025 at 6:21 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
Part III of Co-Orbital is coming on Friday for subscribers of my Patreon. Just a lil reminder if you wanna support me in between book releases, you'll get new sci-fi western short stories and serialized content! #BookSky #WriterSky #LGBTQIA #Scifi

www.patreon.com/c/samtano
January 22, 2025 at 3:48 PM
samanthatano.bsky.social
There's a reason the novel I published last year features a trans woman violently opposing an overwhelming corporation, and the men who seek to uphold the "rules" and "norms" of a patriarchal status quo. #booksky #writersky
January 21, 2025 at 5:21 PM